Soccer-Oman at the Asian Cup

Dec 29 (Reuters) - Factbox on the Oman team ahead of the
Asian Cup, which takes place in the United Arab Emirates from
Jan 5 to Feb 1:

FIFA world ranking: 82
Ranking in Asia: 10
Previous Asian Cups: 3
Best performance: Group stage (2004, 2007, 2015)
2015: Group stage

Nickname: The Reds
Coach: Pim Verbeek
Regular captain: Ahmed Mubarak
Player to watch: Ahmed Mubarak

Recent form:
Oct 16 Oman 0-0 Ecuador Doha
Nov 16 Oman 1-1 Syria Muscat
Nov 19 Oman 2-1 Bahrain Muscat
Dec 13 Oman 2-1 Tajikistan Muscat
Dec 16 Oman 1-0 Tajikistan Muscat

Fixtures:
Group F
Jan 9 Uzbekistan v Oman Sharjah
Jan 13 Oman v Japan Abu Dhabi
Jan 17 Oman v Turkmenistan Abu Dhabi

Under former Australia coach Pim Verbeek, Oman won the
keenly contested Gulf Cup title in early 2018 and take
confidence from that performance and several other strong
showings throughout the rest of the year into the Asian Cup.
Oman have never advanced beyond the group phase of the
continental championship in their previous three involvements in
the competition, but the pragmatic Verbeek has built a resolute
side that mixes youth and experience in equal measure.

(Compiled by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Greg
Stutchbury)